EBay issued a notice on its websites asking users to change their passwords, but took down the message a short time later.New Delhi: The Indian subsidiary of US-based online marketplace eBay Inc has tied up with firms selling refurbished goods as it seeks to strengthen its product offering in the country’s highly competitive ecommerce market.

A top executive at eBay India said the company has entered into an agreement with eight companies, including Green Dust, i2cworld, Baobab, Budli Int and Value Cart, which will give eBay consumers a choice of more than 1,000 live listings of refurbished mobile phones, laptops and tablets.

“Offering buyers unlimited variety at various price points has been the core proposition of eBay globally for nearly 20 years,” said Latif Nathani, vice-president and managing director at eBay India. “Through 'eBay Choices', we will now offer the Indian consumer a similar proposition and an opportunity to buy the same product at different price points ie new, refurbished and used."

"We not only aim to increase the offering of refurbished goods on our platform but also build trust and awareness around the segment by offering products from certified refurbished partners only," he said.

Refurbished products are typically devices that are returned to the manufacturer because of some fault, are repaired and put back on sale at discounted prices with a warranty of six months or more. Unboxed items have been opened but are otherwise unused.

In the next phase, eBay is looking to add other refurbished items like television, refrigerators and other white goods, said Nathani.

The mobile phone category in the refurbished and unboxed market ballooned by 50% in 2014 to about $1.5-2 billion (Rs 9,723-12,964 crore) and is expected to grow 30% annually till 2020, Alex Souter, co-founder of Overcart, an online seller of such goods, had told ET earlier.

Ecommerce companies have recently started selling refurbished goods on their platforms. While Amazon has tied up with Surpluss to sell refurbished smartphones of Samsung and Xiaomi, Shopclues has begun selling unboxed phones from Samsung, Asus, Lenevo, Xiaomi and One-Plus.

Of the total live listing on eBay India in categories like mobile phones, laptops and tablets, 90% of the offerings are new and the rest are refurbished or used. The company is of the view that this ratio will change to 80:20 in the next one year.